Griller-cover



Feb. 14, 1967 w. J. CLARK ET AL GRILLER-COVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 4, 1963 Feb. 14, 1967 w, CLARK ET AL 3,304,407

GRILLER- COVER Filed Dec. 4, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

Feb. 14, 1967 w. J. CLARK ET AL 3,304,407

GRILLER-COVER Filed Dec. 4, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.3

Feb. 14, 1967 w, J CLARK ET AL 3,304,407

GRILLER-COVER Filed Dec. 4, 1963 6 SheetsSheet 4 Feb. 14, 1967 w, J CLARK ET AL 3,304,407

GRILLER-COVER Filed Dec. 4, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FICE-.6

Feb. 14, 1967 w. J. CLARK ET AL GRILLER-COVER 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Dec. 4, 1963 United States Patent 3,304,407 GRILLER-COVER William John Clark, Mortdale, New South Wales, and

Terrence Brian Higgins, Oatley, New South Wales, Australia, assignors to Sunbeam Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 328,093 3 Claims. (Cl. 219-435) This invention relates to a griller-cover, that is a cover having associated with it an electrical grilling element, for an electric frypan or other like cooking utensil.

It is already known to provide a deep metallic cover for an electric fry-pan, and to provide inside the cover an electrical heating element of the sheathed type which is spaced from the top of the cover. The heating element ends in male terminal pins, and connection is made thereto by a suitable socket having female contact pins which mate with the male terminal pins. The socket is provided with a temperature responsive central probe which enters through an opening between the terminal pins and extends into the space between the parallel ends of the heating element. The probe switches the current oil and on to the heating element.

For grilling it is necessary to have a lengthy first cycle, that is a lengthy time before the current is switched off for the first time, for example about fifteen minutes. To allow this to be achieved it has been the practice to provide a thermal control box which is built into the cover and surrounds the parallel ends of the heating element, the heating element being inserted through the thermal control box. The cycling time is adjusted by varying the venting of the box.

With this known construction the terminal ends get too hot to be satisfactory and/ or satisfy electrical authorities. Also the heating element is not readily removable from the cover for cleaning purposes. The construction provided by the present invention enables the terminal ends to be cooled by outside air to a suitably low temperature, and the heating element assembly to be readily removed from the griller-cover. These objects are achieved by securing the thermal control box about and to the heating element near the terminal ends but with a gap between the thermal contrtol box and the adjacent side of a shroud surrounding the terminal ends, and inserting the assembly as a whole through an opening in a wall of the cover so that the gap is exposed to air outside the cover.

According to this invention a griller-cover comprises an electrical heating assembly and a cover, the heating assembly comprising a sheathed type heating element having terminal ends ending in parallel adjacent terminal pins, a shroud surrounding the terminal end and pins, and a thermal control box secured to and about portions of the heating element adjacent the terminals ends, there being a gap between the adjacent parts of the thermal control box and the shroud, said cover having an opening in one side wall, the heating assembly being inserted through said opening from inside the cover until the said gap is outside the cover, and means for securing the heating assembly in place.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying draw ings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan View of a griller-cover in accordance with this invention,

FIGURE 2 is a section along the line 22 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a section along the line 33 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an inverted plan view of the cover,

FIGURE 5 is a section along 55 of FIGURE 4,

3,304,407 Patented Feb. 14, 1967 'ice FIGURE 6 is a view of portion of the cover in the direction of the arrow 6 in FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the heating assembly removed from the cover,

FIGURE 8 is an end view of the heating assembly, and

FIGURE 9 is a section along 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

The griller-cover consists of a heating assembly 10, shown separately in FIGURES 6 and 7 as well as assembled to the cover in FIGURES 1 to 6, and a cover 11.

The heating assembly uses a sheathed type heating element 12 bent into any suitable configuration, the heating element ending in two parallel adjacent arms 13, 14. The sheathed heating element is conventional in construction having a coiled central heating wire indicated generally at 15 in FIGURE 9 insulated from the sheath by a powdered heat-resistant insulating material 16. The ends of the wire are welded to threaded terminal rods 17 which extend from the ends of the sheath. Terminal cups 18 are brazed or welded to the end of the sheath, and a watertight seal to the end of the sheath is provided as described in Australian patent specification No. 23,928/62. The terminal pins themselves are shown at 19 and are crimped onto the ends of the terminal rods 17 as at 20. Porcelain insulators are shown at 21. The terminal cups and terminal ends are covered by a shroud 22 which is secured by screws 23, 24 to flanges 25, 26 on a plate 27 joining the two terminal cups 18. The plate 27 has a central opening 28 to receive a probe of a conventional combined probe and socket, the socket having female contacts which mate with the terminal pins 19. The probe will contain a temperature sensitive element which acts to switch the current to the heating element off when the probe reaches a selected temperature, in known manner. A spring 29 is provided behind the opening 28 and is also secured by the screws 23; it makes earthing contact with the metal probe when the probe is inserted through the opening 28.

In accordance with this invention thermal control box 30 is secured to the parallel arms 13, 14 of the heating element. The control box is made in two substantially similar halves, an upper half 30A and a lower half 30B, each in the form of open-ended boxes having semi-circular cut-outs which partly surround the arms 13, 14 when the box halves are assembled to the arms. When so assembled the semi-circular cut-outs lie opposite each other in pairs to form the four circular openings through which the arms 13, 14 pass. One set of openings is located by the collars 31 welded to the arms so that the thermal control box is spaced from the shroud by a gap 32. One half-box has lugs or ears 33 which are secured to the other half-box by screws or rivets 34. The control box also has a central opening 28A (FIGURE 2) immediately behind opening 28 so that the end of a probe of a combined thermostat-contact making assembly or socket may enter into the thermal control box. The heating assembly is assembled to the cover 11 by inserting the shroud 22 and portion of the thermal control box 30 through a rectangular opening 35 in one wall of the cover: the thermal control box is a close fit in the opening 35. The arrangement is such that the gap 32 is outside the cover by a small distance so that outside airair outside the cover-can circulate between the outer end of the thermal control box 30 on the one hand and the shroud 22 and terminal ends on the other. The heating assembly is held in a detachable fashion as will be described hereinafter.

The cover has a handle 36 which is secured to a handle bracket 37 by screws 38. The handle bracket is secured to the cover by rivets 39. The handle is also secured to the cover by a stud 40 moulded into the handle which passes through the cover and is secured by a nut 41. A

spacer 42, a support bracket 43 and a lock washer 44 are provided. The support bracket 43 has two downturned lugs 45, only one of which is visible in FIGURE 2, against which the thermal control box 30 rests, and is thus supported, when the griller cover is in an inverted position. The support bracket 43 is prevented from rotating by a nib or dowel 46 pressed out of it and entering a hole 47 in the cover.

The right hand end (with reference to FIGURE 2) of the heating assembly is located against movement to the right by a cut-out 48 in the shroud abutting against a lug 49 on the handle. The heating assembly is held against movement to the left by a spring 50 secured under the nut 41 and having a portion or finger 51 which rests on top of the thermal control box and fingers 52 which abut against the left-hand end of the thermal control box 30. If the spring is pressed upwardly the fingers 52 clear the top of the control box and the whole heating assembly can be withdrawn toward the left. A flap 53 is provided which is hinged at 54 to the handle bracket 37 in openings 55. When the heating assembly is withdrawn the flap falls down to cover the opening 35 in the wall of the cover so that the cover may be used without the heating assembly.

The cover top has a number of rectangular openings 56 which may be covered by a sliding plate 57. The plate 57 likewise has rectangular openings 58 which in another position may be brought into register with the openings 56, as is shown in FIGURE 4. The knob 59 is rectangular in plan and if rotated through 90 from the position shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 may be withdrawn through the slot 60 in the cover to enable the slide and the cover behind it to be cleaned. A hinge plate for the cover is shown at 61.

Different degrees of control can be obtained by venting the thermal control box in various ways, for example by having spaced holes of varying sizes formed through the box walls, or by varying the tightness of the joint between the top and bottom parts of the box.

What we claim is:

1. A griller-cover comprising an electrical heating assembly, a sheathed type heating element for the heating assembly, parallel adjacent terminal pins at the ends of the heating element, a shroud surrounding the terminal end pins, a thermal control box secured to and about portions of the heating element adjacent the terminal ends, a gap between the adjacent parts of the thermal control box and the shroud spacing said shroud out of contact with outside the cover, and the gap adjacent but outside the side wall of the cover to permit air circulation between said shroud and said thermal control box and cover.

2. A griller-cover comprising a cover, an opening in one side wall of the cover, a heating assembly removably secured to the cover, a sheathed type heating element for the heating assembly inside the cover, parallel adjacent terminal pins at the ends of the heating element outside the cover, a shroud surrounding the terminal end pins, a thermal control box secured to and about portions of the heating element adjacent the terminal ends, the thermal control box being positioned in and filling the opening in the cover, means on said box and said shroud cooperating with means on said cover to detachably mount said heating element and said thermal control box with respect to said cover, a gap between the adjacent parts of the thermal control box and the shroud, said gap being adjacent but outside the said sidewall of the cover, means forming an opening between said terminal pins whereby a thermostatic control means may be assembled to said terminal pins with a temperature responsive portion extending into said control box, and grounding means carried by said shroud and positioned within said shroud to engage said temperature responsive portion.

3. A griller-cover comprising a cover, an opening in one side wall of the cover, a heating assembly removably secured to the cover, a sheathed type heating element for the heating assembly inside the cover, parallel adjacent terminal pins at the ends of the heating element outside the cover, a shroud surrounding the terminal end pins, a thermal control box secured to and about portions of the heating element adjacent the terminal ends, the thermal control box filling the opening in the cover, a gap between the adjacent parts of the thermal control box and the shroud, said gap being adjacent but outside the said side-wall of the cover, a spring secured to the cover which bears against the end wall of the thermal control box inside the cover, the spring being displaceable to a position away from the thermal control box to permit withdrawal of the heating assembly from the cover, an insulated handle carried by said cover and projecting therefrom over said shroud, and cooperating assembly means on said handle and said shroud positioning said assembly means with respect to said cover.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,436,657 11/1922 Ingersoll 21946O X 1,662,805 3/1928 Frank 219460 1,681,142 8/1928 Wolcott 219-460 X 3,218,434 11/1965 Lee et al 2l9435 X RICHARD M. WOOD, Primary Examiner.

R. F. STAUBLY, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A GRILLER-COVER COMPRISING A COVER, AN OPENING IN ONE SIDE WALL OF THE COVER, A HEATING ASSEMBLY REMOVABLY SECURED TO THE COVER, A SHEATHED TYPE HEATING ELEMENT FOR THE HEATING ASSEMBLY INSIDE THE COVER, PARALLEL ADJACENT TERMINAL PINS AT THE ENDS OF THE HEATING ELEMENT OUTSIDE THE COVER, A SHROUD SURROUNDING THE TERMINAL END PINS, A THERMAL CONTROL BOX SECURED TO AND ABOUT PORTIONS OF THE HEATING ELEMENT ADJACENT THE TERMINAL ENDS, THE THERMAL CONTROL BOX FILLING THE OPENING IN THE COVER, A GAP BETWEEN THE ADJACENT PARTS OF THE THERMAL CONTROL BOX AND THE SHROUD, SAID GAP BEING ADJACENT BUT OUTSIDE THE SAID SIDE-WALL OF THE COVER, A SPRING SECURED TO THE COVER WHICH BEARS AGAINST THE END WALL OF THE THERMAL CONTROL BOX INSIDE THE COVER, THE SPRING BEING DISPLACEABLE TO A POSITION AWAY FROM THE THERMAL CONTROL BOX TO PERMIT WITHDRAWAL OF THE HEATING ASSEMBLY FROM THE COVER, AN INSULATED HANDLE CARRIED BY SAID COVER AND PROJECTING THEREFROM OVER 